Agriculture Revolution

The Agricultural Revolution (17th and 18th centuries)

• The state of agriculture in 1700– Peasants and artisans had about the same

standard of living as in the Middle Ages• 80% of western Europe’s population were farmers;

percentage was even higher in eastern Europe

• Agricultural output was very low compared to modern standards– Medieval open field system was predominant– Failed harvests occurred once or twice a decade,

on average resulting in famines– People were malnourished, making them more

susceptible to disease– Science was essentially a branch of theology and

had no real application in agriculture

Open field system• Common lands were open and strips of land for agriculture

were not divided by fences or hedges• Open fields were farmed as a community• Exhaustion of soil was a common problem• Eventually, 1/3 to ½ of lands were allowed to lie fallow on

any given year so that the soil could recover• Villages maintained open meadows for hay and natural

pasture • Peasants were often taxed heavily• Serfs in eastern Europe were far worse off than farmers in

western Europe

Features of the Agricultural Revolution

• Increased production of food• Increased crop and animal yields could feed

more people• New methods of cultivation• Crops were grown on wastelands and

uncultivated common lands• Selective breeding of livestock• Led to better cultivation as a result of healthier

animals

YEAR SHEEP(lbs.)

CATTLE(lbs.)

1710 28 370

1795 80 800

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

SHEEP CATTLE

1710

1795

Science and technology

• The Low Countries led the way• By mid-17th century, the Dutch enclosed fields, rotated crops, employed heavy

use of manure for fertilizer and planted a wide variety of crops

• Drainage– Much of Holland had once been marshland or

covered by ocean waters– The Dutch became world leaders in reclaiming

wetlands through drainage– Cornelius Vermuyden was the most famous of the

Dutch engineers in drainage techniques– Drainage was later used extensively in southern

England to create new farm lands

England

• By 1870, crop yields had tripled since 1700 with only a 14% increase in people working the land

• Charles Townshend pioneered crop rotation– Townshend later drained much land back at home

in England– Employed crop rotation: turnips, peas, beans,

clover and potatoes

England

• Increased food for livestock meant mass slaughter of animals was no longer needed prior to winter

• Animal feed was now available to sustain livestock through the winter

• People ate more fresh meat rather than preserving surplus meat through salting

• By 1740, new agricultural techniques had become popular among much of the English aristocracy

Jethro Tull (1674-1741)

• Good example of how the empiricism of the scientific revolution was applied to agriculture

• His seed drill allowed for sowing of crops in a straight row rather than scattering it by hand.

• Used horses for plowing rather than slower oxen

Robert Bakewell (1725-95)

• pioneered selective breeding of livestock• Larger and healthier animals were developed• Resulted in increased availability of meat,

wool, leather, soap and candle tallow

Columbian exchangeThe Columbian ExchangeThe Columbian Exchange

From the New World to Europe

•• DiseasesDiseases: syphilis

•• PlantsPlants: potatoes, corn, tomatoes, pineapple, tobacco, beans, vanilla, chocolate

•• AnimalsAnimals: turkeys

• Gold and silver

From Europe to the New World

•• DiseasesDiseases: small pox, measles, bubonic plague, influenza, typhus

•• PlantsPlants: wheat, sugar, rice coffee

•• AnimalsAnimals: horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens

Enclosure Movement

• Landowners sought to increase profits from wool production by enclosing fields for raising sheep

• Differed from 18th century enclosure that was based largely on agriculture

Enclosure

• End to the open field system• Resulted in the commercialization of agriculture• Parliament passed over 3,000 enclosure acts in the late-

18th century and early 19th-century that benefited large landowners

• Corn Laws in 1815 benefited landowners– High tariffs placed on foreign grain– Drove up the price of English grain in England– Hurt the poor as they couldn’t afford price increases for food– One of most notorious examples of a law that benefited the

wealthy at the expense of the English peasantry

impact on the peasantry

• Many moved to towns or cities looking for work since work was less available in the countryside

• Many found work in factories or in poor houses• Many became impoverished farm laborers• In some cases, enclosure freed men to pursue

other economic opportunities, such as the cottage industry

• Women now had no way to raise animals on common lands for extra money

Impact on Women

• In traditional communities, women had been an indispensable part of a household’s economic survival

• Women farmed, raised animals and oversaw important functions of the household

• Enclosure of common lands meant that women (and men) were forced off the land

• Economic opportunities for women thus decreased significantly• Many families with daughters were eager to get them out of

the house as they were an extra mouth to feed• Young women increasingly went to towns or cities where they

became domestic workers, or in many cases when there were no alternatives, prostitutes.

Impact

• A strict hierarchical system emerged• Struggles between landowners and peasants

occurred– Game laws were passed on behalf of landowners whereby any animals

on owners’ vast lands could not be hunted for food

• Enclosure did not spread significantly beyond England

• France did not develop enclosure as national policy and after the 1760s peasants in the provinces strongly opposed enclosure

• Eastern Europe did not see fundamental agricultural changes until the 19th century

Historical Debate

• Traditional vs. Recent Research

Impact of the Agricultural Revolution

• Led to Europe’s population explosion in the 18th century (see below)

• The Enclosure movement altered society in the countryside– Common lands were enclosed thus changing

traditional village life– Widespread migration to cities resulted in

urbanization– Women were adversely affected

Impact of the Agricultural Revolution

• The cottage industry emerged as a means of supplementing a farm family’s income

• Economically, the increased supply of food resulted in lower food prices that enabled people to spend more money on consumer goods.

Population ExplosionCauses

1. Agricultural revolution made more food available to larger populations

2. New foods such as the potato became a staple crop for the poor in many countries (e.g. Ireland)

3. Improved food transportation due to better roads and canals4. Better diet resulted in stronger immune systems in people to

fight disease5. Disappearance of the bubonic plague after 17206. Improved sanitation in towns and cities7. 18th century wars were less destructive on civilian

populationsAdvances in medicine were NOT a significant cause

Key Stat

• Between 1700 and 1800 the European population increased from about 120 million to about 190 million people.

Proto-Industrialization: the Cottage Industry (“Putting-Out” System)

• Rural industry became a major pillar of Europe’s growing economy in the 18th century– Rural population was eager to supplement its income– Merchant-capitalists in cities were eager to draw on

cheap labor in the countryside rather than paying guild members in towns higher fees

– Thus, early industrial production was “put out” into the countryside: the “putting-out system”

– Manufacturing with hand tools in peasant cottages came to challenge the urban craft industry

How it Worked

• Merchant-capitalists provided raw materials (e.g. raw wool) to a rural family who produced a finished or semi-finished product and sent it back to the merchant for payment– Cottage workers were usually paid by the number

of pieces they produced– Merchants would sell the finished product for a

profit– Wool cloth was the most important product

Family Business

• Work of four or five spinners needed to keep one weaver steadily employed.

• Husband and wife constantly tried to find more thread and more spinners.

• “Spinsters” were widows and unmarried women who spun for their living.

• Sometimes, families subcontracted work to others

Problems

1. Constant disputes between cottagers and merchants occurred over weights of materials and quality of cloth.

2. Rural labor was unorganized and usually difficult for merchants to control.

3. Merchant-capitalists’ search for more efficient methods of production became profound resulting in growth of factories and the industrial revolution.

Results

• Thousands of poor rural families were able to supplement their incomes

• Unregulated production in the countryside resulted in experimentation and the diversification of goods– Goods included textiles, knives, forks, housewares,

buttons, gloves, clocks and musical instruments

Facts

• The cottage industry flourished first in England– Spinning and weaving of woolen cloth was most

important– In 1500, half of England’s textiles were produced

in the countryside– By 1700, that percentage was higher – The putting-out system in England spread later to

Continental countries (e.g. France and Germany)

Proto-industrial technology (prior to horse power, water power, and the steam engine)

1. 1733, John Kay invented the flying shuttle which enabled weaver to throw the shuttle back and forth between threads with one hand.

2. 1764, James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny which mechanized the spinning wheel.

Mercantilism and the Atlantic Economy

• World trade became fundamental to the European economy– Sugar became the most important commodity produced in the

Atlantic trade; tobacco, cotton, and indigo were also important– The slave trade was enormous

• Spain and Portugal revitalized their empires and grew economically from renewed development.

• Netherlands, Great Britain, and France benefited the most.• By far, England had the largest number of emigrants to the

New World at this time.

Characteristics

• Main goal: economic self-sufficiency• A country or empire sought to create a favorable balance of

trade by exporting more than it imported.– Tariffs (customs duties) were placed on imports.

• Bullionism: countries sought to build up large reserves of gold and silver and prevent the flow of these precious metals out of their country– Colonies were acquired to provide raw materials (and markets) for the

mother country.– States granted monopolies to large companies (e.g. British East India

Co., Dutch East India Co.). – States encouraged development of domestic industries so that a

country would not have to buy a finished product from a rival country.

Great Britain

• Became the world’s leading maritime power in the 18th century.– The Bank of England (1694) provided an important source of capital

for economic development– The Act of Union (1707) unified England and Scotland; the Scots

sought the benefits of trade within the English empire.• British mercantilism differed from France in that gov’t economic

regulations often served the private interest of individuals and groups as well as the public needs of the state.– In contrast, authoritarian states (like France) sought an economic

system that primarily benefited the state rather than businessmen and workers.

– For example, the intendant system was extended throughout the French empire

Navigation Acts

• Passed by Parliament to increase military power and private wealth.– First act passed in 1651 seeking to reduce Dutch domination of

the Atlantic trade• Issued by Oliver Cromwell and extended by Charles II in 1660 and 1663

– Required that most goods imported from Europe into Great Britain be carried on British-owned ships with British crews or on ships of the country producing the specific good.

– Gave British merchants and ship owners virtual monopoly on trade with the colonies.

• Colonists required to ship their products (sugar, tobacco, cotton) on British ships and to buy almost all of their European goods from Britain.

Triangular Trade • Revolved around the West Indies in the Caribbean and included

North America and Africa.• One route: finished goods from Britain to the North American

colonies where raw materials (fish, rice, oil, timber) were then placed on ships and sent to Jamaica or Barbados, where these goods were traded for sugar that would be sent back to Britain for refining.

• Another route: New England colonies shipped rum to Africa where slaves would then be placed on ships headed to the West Indies and traded for molasses which was then shipped northward to the American colonies.– Much of this trade, however, was illegal under the Navigation Laws but

traders, both English and American, made fortunes nonetheless

The Dutch Republic

1. During the first half of the 17th century the Netherlands was the world’s dominant maritime power: “Golden Age of the Netherlands”– The middle class (burghers) dominated politics and the economy

2. The three Anglo-Dutch Wars between 1652 and 1674 damaged Dutch shipping and commerce.– New Amsterdam seized by England in 1664; renamed “New

York”

3. The wars of Louis XIV further weakened Dutch trade in the Atlantic

4. The Netherlands shifted their attention to banking rather than trade and managed to survive intact

Slave Trade

• The dramatic growth in the Atlantic trade was due in large part to the use of slave labor

• About 10 million Africans were transported to the New World in the 17th and 18th centuries– Half of the slave trade occurred aboard British ships; 25%

on French ships; and the rest on Dutch, Portuguese, Danish and American ships

• Most slaves were actually captured by rival African tribes who traded slaves for European goods such as cloth, alcohol and weapons

Middle Passage

• Between 20% and 1/3 of slaves died en route to the New World while on slave ships (the “Middle Passage”)– Most slaves were taken to Brazil or the West Indies, usually

to work sugar plantations– As many as 400,000 ended up in British North America in

colonies such as Virginia, Maryland and South Carolina.• The slave trade dwindled significantly by the 1780s• Most of the subsequent increase in the New World

slave population came from natural population growth

The “Bubbles”• The South Sea Bubble, 1720

– 1719, the British government gave the South Sea Company rights to take over the national debt.

• The company had been given a monopoly of the slave trade with Latin America a few years earlier.

• The company would presumably make a profit from the interest collected from the gov’t on the debt.

• When investors didn’t make their money back fast enough the company converted the debt owed them into shares of stock.

• A speculative frenzy drove stock prices higher as investors believed prices would continue upward

• The bubble burst in 1720 resulting in the first large-scale financial crash

• It took years to restore confidence in the British government’s ability to repay its debts

The “Bubbles”

• Mississippi Bubble, 1720– The Mississippi Company was granted a monopoly by

the French government on trade with French Louisiana in North America

– In 1719, the company took over France’s national debt in exchange for company shares of stock.

– In 1720, after dramatic price increases in stock shares, the price of the stock collapsed and the Mississippi Company was ruined.

– The national debt in France remained staggering and played a role in the French Revolution 7 decades later

Colonial Wars (could be considered part of a “Second Hundred Years’ War”—1689-1815)

• Britain and France were the two main adversaries in the colonial wars for empire

• Between 1689 and 1783 both countries engaged in a series of wars over the issue of maritime trade and colonial expansion

• The Netherlands and Spain were in relative decline• In effect, these wars were world wars since they

involved fighting in Europe, the high seas and the New World

War of Spanish Succession (1701-1713)

• The prospect of the Bourbons (Louis XIV and his grandson) controlling both France and Spain (and their empires) became a major threat to Britain in North America and the balance of power in Europe

• Treaty of Utrecht (1713)– France lost Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and the

Hudson Bay territory to Great Britain– Spain lost the asiento to Britain: the West African

slave trade with the New World– Spain agreed to allow one British ship of

merchandise per year through Panama.

War of Jenkins’ Ear (began in 1739)

• Started over issue of Spain’s allegation of British abuse regarding the Treaty of Utrecht provision that allowed Britain to send one ship of merchandise to Central America per year.– Spanish officials boarded a British ship suspected of smuggling

goods into Latin America and cut off ear of Captain Jenkins, a British officer.

– Jenkins kept his ear in a jar of brandy and presented it to Parliament 7 years later

– In response, King George II went to war with Spain.• Conflict expanded into the War of Austrian Succession in

1740.

War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

• Involved battles between England and France in North America and India.

• Spain fought effectively in keeping its empire intact

• The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) essentially preserved the status quo in the colonial empires

Seven Years’ War (French & Indian War: 1754-63)

• Began in the disputed Ohio Valley of North America when a young American officer, George Washington, engaged a French force protecting Ft. Duquesne (modern-day Pittsburgh) in 1754.

• French forces (and their Amerindian allies) fought British and American colonial forces for control of North America. – This war became part of the larger Seven Years’ War

in Europe

Details

• William Pitt, Britain’s new prime minister, changed Britain’s war strategy in the middle of the war by focusing more attention on North America.

• Britain’s Royal Navy defeated France’s navy in various engagements on the high seas– France planned to invade Great Britain but devastating naval losses

ended such an attempt– British trade prospered as a result– France’s trade dropped to 1/16 of its prewar level– France’s sugar trade with its West Indian colonies was choked off– Britain took control of French posts near Calcutta and Madras in India

• When Spain entered the war on France’s side, Britain seized Cuba and the Philippines from Spain

TREATY OF PARIS 1763• Most important European peace treaty since the Treaty of

Westphalia in 1648• France was completely removed from North America

– France lost Canada to Britain as well as all its colonial possessions east of the Mississippi River.

– As compensation for Spain’s support in the war, France gave the Louisiana territory (including New Orleans) to Spain

• France had to accept British domination in India, especially Bengal (although it was allowed to keep its posts there)– This later proved significant as India became Britain’s most important

colonial possession in the 19th and early 20th centuries• Spain ceded Florida to Britain in return for Cuba and the Philippines• Britain thus became the world’s dominant colonial empire

American Revolution

• In hopes of weakening Britain’s world empire, France gave significant financial and military support to the United States in its successful war for independence.

• The 13 American colonies had been Britain’s most valuable colonial possessions as both a source for raw materials and a large market for British goods.– By 1775, about 2.5 million people lived in the colonies

(over 1.6 million from England alone)

Colonial Latin America

• Spain• In the 18th century, Spain’s colonies remained an important

part of the Atlantic economy– Silver mining recovered in Mexico and Peru– After the War of Spanish Succession Spain improved its

control over the empire• Creoles—Spaniards born in Latin America—came to rival

the power of Spanish authorities– Strove to recreate a European-style aristocracy in Latin

America• Indians were shifted from forced labor to debt peonage on

owners’ lands• About 20% of the American population• Mestizos were children born to Spanish fathers and Indian

mothers• Eventually represented about 30% of the population• Amerindian population constituted about 70%• Land owners believed Amerindians should do the hard labor

in the countryside• Black slavery remained in the sugar plantations of Cuba

and Puerto Rico

• Portuguese Brazil– Sugar plantations in Brazil required massive

numbers of slaves– By early 19th century, half of Brazil’s population

was of African descent– The Portuguese, Indian and African populations in

Brazil intermixed socially to a greater degree than in the Spanish empire, resulting in a multi-color population.

• Marriage and the Family prior to 17501. The nuclear family was the most common in

pre-industrial Europe.2. On average, the age at marriage was higher prior to

1750, especially for the lower classes3. Some areas required legal permission or approval of

local lord or landowner for marriage.4. Many men and women never married.

Children• Rate of births out of wedlock was fairly low

– Reflected powerful social controls of traditional villages, especially the open-field villages

– Parents, village elders, priests, and landlords pressured young couples to marry if a pregnancy occurred.

• Premarital sex was generally limited to couples who were already thinking about marriage.

• Numbers of children per family– If wife & husband lived to age 45, odds about 50% of giving

birth to 6 or more children.– Infant mortality was high.

• 20% in economically viable areas.• 33% in poorer areas.• 50% survival rate into adulthood was considered good.

New patterns of marriage after 1750

• The growth of the cottage industry with its increased income resulted in higher rates of people marrying for love instead of just purely economic reasons.

• The explosion of births was caused by increasing illegitimacy: 1750-1850.– In Germany, illegitimate births were a result of open

rebellion against class laws limiting marriage among the poor.

• Women in cities and factories had limited economic independence.

•Attitudes toward children began to change during the 18th century

Child care and nursing

• Poorer women generally breast-fed their infants for much longer periods than in the 20th century

• Women of aristocracy and upper-middle class seldom breast-fed

Infanticide

• infanticide was rampant due to severe poverty.• Foundling hospitals emerged, first in Paris then

throughout Europe• Therefore, Children were often treated

indifferently and with strict physical discipline.– The use of wet-nurses is a good example.

• Because of such high mortality rates, parents were reluctant to become too emotionally attached to their children.

Thoughts on child rearing

• “Spare the rod and spoil the child” –term coined by novelist Daniel Defoe

• Many children worked in factories at a young age and were severely disciplined.

• Many believed the task of parents was to break their will to make them obedient.

• Humanitarianism and Enlightenment optimism regarding human progress emphasized better treatment of children.

• Rousseau encouraged greater love and understanding toward children.

• Increasingly, parents grew closer to their children.

Education

• The beginnings of formal education for the masses took root; largely inspired by Protestantism.

• Aristocracy and rich had a two-century head start beginning in the 16th century with special colleges, often run by Jesuits.

• “Little schools” of elementary education began to appear in 17th century.

Education• Starting in 1717, Prussia led the way with universal

compulsory education.– Inspired by old Protestant idea that every Christian should be able

to read the Bible– Education also seen as way to make the population effectively

serve the state.• Enlightenment commitment to greater knowledge through

critical thinking reinforced interest in education during 18th century.

• Literacy by 1800:– Almost 90% of Scottish male population; only 1 in 6 in 1600.– 2 out of 3 males in France; in Normandy, 90%; only 1 in 6 in 1600.– Over 50% of male Brits; only 25% in 1600.– Women were increasingly literate but lagged behind men in

general.

Medical Improvements

• The bubonic plague had largely disappeared from Europe in the 17th century.

• The conquest of smallpox was the greatest medical triumph of the 18th century.

• Edward Jenner (1749-1823) 1778, created the foundation for the science of immunology with his vaccine for smallpox.

• Humanitarianism of late 18th century led to hospital reform.

Religious Revival• “Pietism” in Germany caused its Protestant revival.• The emotional content of Christian faith was emphasized; enthusiasm

in prayer, worship, preaching, and life itself, was the key concept.• Reasserted earlier radical stress on “priesthood of all believers.”• Reduced chasm between official clergy and Lutheran laity that had

existed since the Reformation.• Bible reading and study extended to all classes, thus spurring public

education.• Pietists believed in practical power of Christian rebirth in everyday

affairs.• Reborn Christians expected to lead good, moral lives and come from

all sectors of society.

Methodists• John Wesley (1703-1791) founded Methodism• Influenced by Pietism in Germany• Wesley concerned about complacency of religion in England

(also the skepticism of the Enlightenment and deism)• Wesley often preached in open fields to large numbers of

people• Particularly popular among the lower classes• Rejected the Calvinist idea of predestination• He believed all men and women who earnestly sought

salvation might be saved.• His message was one of hope and joy, of free will and

universal salvation.• Methodism eventually developed into a new denomination.

Rococo

• Rococo (mid-eighteenth century France)– Identified with the court of Louis XV.– Lighter elements and more curves and natural patterns

than the heavier baroque style– Highly decorative– More intimate settings; less grandiose than baroque

• Many works focused on playful scenes of the aristocracy and bourgeoisie– Antoine Watteau (1684-1721): first great Rococo painter– Pilgrimage to Cythera, (1721)

• Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806): The Swing (1767)

Neoclassicism• Neoclassicism (late-18th, early 19th centuries)

– Characteristics• Sought a return to the artistic style of ancient Rome, Greek ideals, and the Renaissance• Simplicity, balance, symmetry, restraint

• Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) was the most important artist of the movement– Death of Socrates (1787) is seen as perhaps the first major work of the

movement.– He painted numerous works glorifying the French Revolution– After 1800, David developed his “Empire style” that, in part, glorified

Napoleon’s regime.– Became Napoleon’s official court painter after the coronation in 1804

• Neoclassical architecture became popular in many public buildings and private residences.

• The Arch de Triomphe is such an example.• Washington, D.C. saw numerous buildings created in the “empire” style.

Music

• Classical Style• The neo-classical ideas in the visual arts influenced music

as well with the ideals of balance, symmetry and restraint.• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Franz Joseph

Haydn (1732-1809), and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1826) became the masters of the new style

• Moved away from the dense baroque textures of J. S. Bach and Handel

• Simple, tuneful melodies and clearer forms• The symphony developed as an important genre